EMERALD PROPERTIES

Emerald is the rich green variety of the mineral beryl, the same mineral family that includes Aquamarine, Morganite, Heliodor and Goshenite. Prized for thousands of years, emerald has accumulated an extraordinary history of symbolism, legend and lapidary lore.

HISTORICAL LORE

Emerald has captivated human beings for thousands of years. Ancient emerald mining in Egypt dates back at least to the Ptolemaic period, and the mines of Egypt later became an important source for the Roman world. Cleopatra became famously associated with the gemstone, incorporating Emerald into her royal adornment.

The Roman naturalist Pliny the Elder wrote extensively about smaragdus, an ancient term used for Emerald and other green stones. He considered its green colour uniquely pleasing to the eye, writing that there was no green more intense. He also recorded that ancient gem workers would rest their tired eyes by looking at the stone's soothing green colour.

Pliny even tells us that Emperor Nero watched gladiatorial combats through a smaragdus. Exactly what kind of stone or optical object Pliny was describing has been debated, but the story demonstrates the extraordinary relationship the ancient world had already developed with brilliant green gemstones.

Its green colour also naturally connected Emerald with growth, fertility, renewal and the abundance of the natural world, associations that have continued to follow the gemstone through history.

VIRTUES

Emerald has long been associated with love, abundance, wisdom and vision. In the ancient world and throughout the centuries that followed, the stone became intertwined with ideas of fertility, prosperity, fidelity, foresight and the powers of the mind.

To me, Emerald is above all a stone of love and devotion; not only romantic love, but the willingness to give and receive love openly, to treat others with compassion and to remain devoted to the people, work and principles that genuinely matter to us.

I also associate Emerald with a rich and abundant inner life. Its symbolism of riches need not refer only to material wealth. Knowledge, creativity, friendship, purpose, faith and love are forms of abundance in their own right. Emerald reminds me to recognize what is already flourishing rather than measuring life solely by what I have yet to obtain.

There is also something deeply contemplative about Emerald. I associate it with reflection, philosophy, artistic creativity and dedication to one's life's work. Its green colour evokes renewal and growth: the continual process of becoming wiser while remaining compassionate.

Perhaps one of Emerald's loveliest virtues is the courage to love without regarding tenderness as weakness, to extend compassion while maintaining discernment, and to accept life as it truly is rather than continually comparing it with what we believe it should be.

A beautiful talisman and symbol of love, devotion, wisdom, abundance and renewal.